This is the sixth in a series of articles about our Constitution.
All articles are free, always free, either at my Substack site or my website.
Once upon a time in America, as in most countries (and in still too many countries today), women were discouraged from developing a professional career. For instance, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor graduated in the top 10% of her class at the Stanford Law School, yet to get her first job as a lawyer, O’Connor had to offer to work for no salary, with no office, sharing work space with the legal secretary.
Long-standing traditions and cultural practices, such as the gender stereotypes facing Sandra Day O’Connor, can be a source of both good and bad stability. Tradition is built on the collective wisdom and practices of our ancestors. But that collective wisdom and those practices may not be particularly wise, and certainly may not be wise in perpetuity. Times change. If our traditional practices don’t change with the times, the stability of some traditions can become a choke hold on opportunity. The difficulty is determining when to favor change and when to favor traditional practice.
The U.S. Constitution has activated thick, lasting traditions of reverence. The Constitution has come to symbolize American independence, hard work, and courage at creating our own country — a country more successful economically and in terms of human freedom and flourishing than any country in history.
Respect for our Constitution is well-deserved. Our Constitution contains many strengths.
The strength of our Constitution revolves around concepts such as: